Contents

History

After the 1993 defeat of the Canada's only female Prime Minister, Kim Campbell, the Progressive Conservatives, a center-right party, were reduced to just two seats in the House of Commons. Another right-wing party, the Reform Party, gained 52 seats in that election. In 2000, the Reform Party changed its name to the Canadian Alliance. After a decade of split votes between the Progressive Conservatives and the Canadian Alliance, the parties merged.

Policies

The party is generally supportive of privatization, a smaller federal government, larger provincial governments, closer relations with the United States, Senate reform, implementation of a two-tier health care system, and a stronger military. The party opposes legalization of cannabis, and held a free-vote on reopening the issue of same-sex marriage (which was ultimately defeated). They have also motioned for fixed election dates, raising both supporters and detractors among all Canadian political parties, removal of the per-vote subsidy, and for government accountability.

Controversies

The Conservative Party has gone through many controversies in it's history. Often derided by center, and leftist Canadians as too far on the right, for it's stances on criminal law and taxation, the Conservative Party is seen as a puppet of the American Government. To observers from the United States, the Conservative Party is often seen as a misnomer, a wildly liberal political entity masquerading as a conservative organization, citing the party's stance on same-sex marriage, and abortion. Recently, however, the controversies are around the F-35 scandal, criticized as too expensive, vastly overdue, and inferior to Canadian made aircraft. Another scandal that rocked the party, was the Robocall Scandal, where it is alleged that certain MPs were deceitfully misleading voters on voting locations.